Hospital and Physician Capacity Update

A Brief Report from the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care

A report from the Dartmouth Atlas Project shows that the supply of hospital beds and doctors varies widely from region to region across the United States, and the variations have nothing to do with the level of care patients want or need. The report finds that the supply of doctors also varies widely among regions, reflecting a continuation of the trend of doctors settling in affluent communities or near where they trained, a trend that drives the utilization of health care resources more than actual need for medical care.

As the health reform debate heats up, it is important to understand the disconnect between the supply of health care resources and patient needs. The report also includes recommendations on how to better manage the supply and growth of health care resources.